The Litigators - John Grisham

John Grisham is a pretty good writer. Granted, he is a story teller of things law related and that's kind of a niche that you have to be into to enjoy his stuff. I recently read The Litigators on my flight home from Rome. For the most part, I enjoyed it. Grisham has a gift for bringing characters to life and giving them hilarious personality quirks and flaws.

My biggest criticism is this: I felt like I was watching an episode of Law and Order: Chicago - an episode that would not end. There was enough legal jargon in there for me to get lost and about half way through the book it became very easy to predict what was going to come next.

So, if you're getting on a plane and desperate for a read...The Litigators isn't a bad choice. Though you might want to brush up on your law knowledge ahead of time...

A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah

I had the good fortune, several years ago, to go to a small seminar that happened to have Ishmael Beah as the keynote speaker. I remember thinking to myself, "How can anyone who has been through such horrific things be so happy?" Since that day, Ishmael has always been one of the people I try to model myself after. If he can wake up and live life with a smile on his face, so can I.

Even though this was my second time reading A Long Way Gone, I was still as shocked and saddened by the contents of the novel as I was the first time I read it. From scenes with babies that have been shot to death, dismembered community members and imams that have been burnt to death, their remains eaten by animals, A Long Way Gone is certainly a blunt-forced reminder of the terrible cruelty that humans can inflict on one another. Yet, amongst all the horror, Ishmael finds a way to provide bittersweet glimpses of human warmth and kindness. Despite it's grim nature, A Long Way Gone still leaves you feeling hopeful.

A Long Way Gone is certainly its own type of coming-of-age story, and one that I think everybody should read. I don't want to presume what an individual reader can get out of A Long Way Gone, because I think the message gleaned from this memoir is probably different and deeply personal for each reader.

However, I can say that I deeply admire Ishmael's bravery and openness in discussing the horrifying nature of civil war and becoming a boy-soldier. I feel like his memoir provides its readers with a better understanding into this often forgotten world, while also calling into focus the blurry line between right and wrong.